Concerned about skyrocketing energy costs? There are many ways to make your office more energy efficient and avoid falling into shock when your energy bills arrive each month.
The easiest way to save money is to install energy-efficient lighting throughout the office, says Bernie Woller, director of facilities and special projects for Buckeye Power Inc., an electric cooperative. Lighting systems are responsible for about 35 percent of the electricity costs in a typical commercial building and 10 percent in industrial buildings.
“We replaced our T12 fluorescent lights [a common commercial lighting fixture] with high-efficiency T8 lamps with electronic ballasts that operate at a lower current,” Woller says. The lamps also more closely resemble natural light.
Canister lights in the front office were also replaced with compact fluorescent bulbs, which are four times more efficient than incandescent bulbs. Compact fluorescent bulbs convert 20 percent of their electricity to light, compared to a 5 percent conversion for conventional bulbs. (The other 95 percent produces heat.)
In fact, if you’re in your office for an average of 10 hours a day, replacing just one 75-watt incandescent bulb with a 23-watt compact fluorescent bulb would decrease electricity use by 190 kilowatt hours per year, according to Buckeye Power.
“We also encourage our employees to turn off their lights whenever they leave their offices, and we installed occupancy sensors in the restrooms and other areas around the office that aren’t constantly used,” Woller adds.
To save on heating and cooling costs, Buckeye Power installed a 25-horsepower air blower motor and a variable-speed drive to its heating-ventilating-and-air-conditioningsystem, which regulates airflow and temperature in the office. A conventional blower runs at a single speed, delivering full heating or cooling capacity every time it goes on. “But a [variable-speed drive] allows you to adjust the speed of the blower, so on a mild day when you don’t need to cool or heat your office much, you can slow the speed of the blower and save electricity,” Woller says.
If investing in new HVAC equipment is not an option, simply turn down the office thermostat and encourage your employees to wear sweaters or sweatshirts at work during cooler months. Lowering your thermostat by just one degree may lower your energy bill by as much as 4 percent.
You may also want to consider replacing your office’s bulky computer monitors with flat-panel computer screens, which use a third of the electricity of regular monitors.
Finally, you may not realize it, but all those little gadgets such as cell phone, PDA and iPod chargers —even the coffee pot — you and your employees keep plugged in can take a toll on your electricity bill. These devices can often make up as much as 5 percent of your office’s electricity bill. Encourage your employees to unplug or turn off items that are not in use.
It may take more money to invest in new lighting or equipment up front, but your savings can be substantial, Woller says.